Shloka 25
आपद्-राजनीतिः (Āpad-rājanīti) — Policy Options in Multi-Front Crisis
भीष्म उवाच स तथोक्तस्तदा राजन् ऋषभेण महात्मना । सुमित्रो5पनयत् क्षिप्रमाशां कृशतरीं तत:
bhīṣma uvāca | sa tathoktas tadā rājan ṛṣabheṇa mahātmanā | sumitro 'panayat kṣipram āśāṃ kṛśatarīṃ tataḥ ||
Bhishma said: O King, when the great-souled sage Rishabha had spoken thus, Sumitra at once cast away that hope—an expectation that only made the body ever more emaciated.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Hope when it becomes clinging expectation (āśā) can weaken a person—mentally and even physically; therefore, one should abandon such craving and cultivate steadiness through detachment and self-control.
Bhishma narrates that after the sage Rishabha instructs him, Sumitra immediately gives up the emaciating hope he had been holding onto.